John Boydol, age 13, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for his question: 

What kind of plant is the puya?

The puya and its 50 or so cousins are seldom seen outside their.native territory. They are tough and hardy plants of South America. Most of them grow wild in the tropical and semi-tropical regions of Peru and Chile. Their long leaves tend to grow in tight spirals like rosettes around their central stems. Many have leaves ending in sharp spikes and the low growing types wait like daggers to pierce the feet and legs of careless travelers. The leaves are too tough to be used as vegetables and so far as we know, we cannot extract from them any medicines or other useful juices. But the puya plants bear beautiful blossoms. People of South America sometimes cultivate certain varieties for their tall, spreading spires of showy white flowers.

Certain relatives of the puya are far more famous and at least one of them produces a tempting item on our dessert menu. This one is the pineapple. Both the pineapple and the puya belong in the plant family Bromeliaceae. Many other bromeliad plants are cultivated in greenhouses for their brilliant and unusual flowers. Their showy blossoms make a brilliant contrast among their thick, spiky leaves.